Ashley’s Morning Scoop 10.18.16

Billy Bush has officially exited the TODAY Show after reaching a settlement with NBC. Noah Oppenheim, the exec in charge of the morning show, broke the news to the morning show in a memo yesterday, saying “Billy Bush will be leaving the Today show’s 9 a.m. hour, effective today. While he was a new member of the Today team, he was a valued colleague and longtime member of the broader NBC family. We wish him success as he goes forward.” There were rumors that Bush and NBC reached a $10 million settlement, but neither side has confirmed the settlement.

Lady Gaga has been speaking out about her new, more mellow look in the days leading up to the release of her new album, Joanne. She says she wants the focus to be on her music and the lyrics, not about what she’s wearing. And while she understood the fashion choices she was making, a lot of people didn’t. She says “some of that, too, is because I’ve been in the studio with boys. You can’t make music with a bunch of boys who are staring at a lobster on your head…They are going to get distracted.” She also says she had a specific audience in mind for her new single “Perfect Illusion,” “This woman in middle America with hair pulled back, no makeup…[in] a sweatshirt you’d buy at the drugstore, [with] a kid in one hand, pinot grigio in the other, two kids running around. You don’t know if she’s married, but she’s at my show, crying her eyes out because she feels I’m speaking for her.” No wonder I like that song…….

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominations came out this morning and Pearl Jam is among this year’s nominees, along with Janet Jackson, Tupac, Depeche Mode, The Cars, Journey & ELO to name a few. The finalists will be announced in December, with the Induction ceremony taking place in April.

Things heated up on the set of Dancing with the Stars on Latin Night last night. Jana Kramer and partner Vlad earned a perfect 40 after dancing under a shower…. She might be moving up towards my pick for the favorite to take home the mirrorball, but she hasn’t taken over Laurie Hernandez just yet….. Amber Rose and Maks got the boot last night, as they sat in the bottom three with Jana & Gleb and Calvin Johnson & Lindsay Arnold (who got a 37, by the way)….. I don’t get this show.